Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-30
SORGHUM SUGAR OFFICIALLY.

From the Newton Republican.
! We are in receipt of pamphlet issued
| by the Kansas State Board of Agricul-
| ture. which may be briefly termed the
report of Prof +. b. Cowgirl. on the
manufacture of sorghum sugar in Kan
sas. more especially DIS prosecuted at
! Fort Scott. in the season of 1887.
\ portion of Prof. CowgiIls report is
( historical. and may be briefly summed
up by saying that. in the beginning,
John Bennyworth. at Larned, and 5. A.
| LIebold & Co.. at Great Bend, erected
sugar factories, which made little su-
gar. lost money and quit. That later,
r. 81 Sandy & Co.. of New Orleans.
built a sugar factory at Sterling, which
, made syrups. and afterwards sugar, but
! did not make expenses. That sugar
was made III Large amounts at Hutch
inson and money lost. That sugar was
made at Ottawa for two years at loss.
| That $50 900 was appropriated by con-
gress III 1884. all of which went to Lou
isiana for experiments. In 1888 Senator
Plumb again secured an appropriation
of SGT, 900 which was expended at OF
tawa, Kansas, and in Louisiana. In 1886
congress made another appropriation OF
$50 900 to be used in Louisiana. New
Jersey and Kansas. and this w3s fol-
lowed by another appropriation Of $50.
900. of which S24 600 was to be appor
toned to louisiana: $4,000 to Rio
Grande. n. j., and $50, 900 to Fort Scott.
Kansas. so that soghum and diffusion
have cost the United States $2i0, 900. In
addition the Kansas legislature of 1887
voted bounty of two cents q pound on
sugar reaching a certain standard.
Prof. Cowgirl gives in detail the pro-
cesses of making sugar. The same &C
count was given generally IN the Repub-
lican last summer. and accepted as suf-
ficiently complete by a great many news
papers. Persons who wish more minute
information should read Prof. Cowgill's
report. which may be obtained on appli
cation to VIM. Sims, secretary OF the
state board.
As to the results attained at TT. Scott
the past season, Prof. Cowgirl gives the
first official figures which have reached
the pOblic. He states that the actual
amount of sugar made and branded was
234. 601 pounds. including first and sec
onds. Prof Cowgirl says it is safe to as
sumo that an average Of 100 pounds of
sugar and twelve gallons OF molaSSes can
be made from each ton of cleaned sor-
ghum cane.
As to the profits Of the Fort Scott
works. the past season. these are sub
mitted in the report of Judge Parkinson,
who. deducted from the expense account
the amount paid by the department of
agriculture, figures out profit OF S1J,-
1892
Prof. Cowgirl regards the diffusion
battery as used at the Parkinson factory
as an intricate and expensive apparatus,
and says the Germans have within few
wears constructed batteries even simpler
than that of Fort Scott. An
apparatus has even been constructed
composed Of a single vessel through
which the water passes in one direction,
while the chips are moved slowly in the
other by a screw conveyor. The batter
les which will be used in this country,
however. will doubtless be constructed
on the ground plan as that used at Fort
Scott. with such notifications as will
cheaper the construction and reduce the
labor Of operating.
The expense of hauling cane, Prof.
Cowgirl thinks. can be greatly reduced by
constructing railways on which thirteen
tons of cane can be hauled at q load. and
he is generally confident that sorghum
Yields to the farmer more than twice as
much per acre as either of the leading
cereals